Make your own curry powder?

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Make your own curry powder?
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tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45668
Location: Essex

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 9:46 am Post subject:
Like i said I've never used Curry Powder so I'm probably not qulaified to comment, anybody know what's in it?

snowball
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 6246
Location: swindon

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 9:50 am Post subject:
I like curry powder as a quick and conveinent way to spice things up. Having said that, I like grinding my own to add an infinite variety to dishes. I would say the basics are, garlic, chili,coriander seeds,tumeric, cumin and cardamon. The heat is obviously dependent on the amount of each you choose. Feel free to add any of the others already listed. Just experiment and have fun.

jema
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28233
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 9:57 am Post subject:
But it is about a lot more than the blend, I do not claim to be an expert , but the creation of a good curry involved heating some of the spices in oil at the start, adding others with the cooking liquid, and probably frying a little garam masala and adding to the dish just before serving. Bunging in some "mix" at a single point of the cooking, is not the same thing at all.

sean
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 10:15 am Post subject:

tahir wrote:

Like i said I've never used Curry Powder so I'm probably not qulaified to comment, anybody know what's in it?

Schwartz medium curry powder:
Coriander seed
Salt
Turmeric
Ginger
Cumin
Fenugreek
Mustard flour
Garlic powder
Allspice
Cayenne pepper
Black pepper

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 12:17 pm Post subject:

I have made curries from scratch, but have also had very good ones from powder.

Looking at Sean's list, garlic, pepper, salt, chilli and ginger can all be added from our store cupboard anyway so it would be good to make a simple 3/4 spice powder rather than buying anything.

So, as Snowball suggests, something like a mix of coriander seeds, tumeric, cumin and cardamom would be worth making. I could make it once a month for weekday use.

I'd rather not go down the 2 different types of cardamom, two different types of mustard seed, 6 different types of chilli powder route as we don't eat that many or have the space for the jars!

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 12:28 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

I'd rather not go down the 2 different types of cardamom, two different types of mustard seed, 6 different types of chilli powder route as we don't eat that many or have the space for the jars!

Chuck out the jars and use small ziploc-type bags for the whole spices. They really don't take up a lot of space - you can keep them in a small box in a drawer, like a filing cabinet. Then just take out enough to make a small amount of whatever blend you chose, and keep that in a more accessible jar.

I will probably get leaped on for saying it, but I find that whole spices last for ever. I'm still working my way through a huge bag of peppercorns that I bought about 6 years ago - I've not really noticed any loss of potency.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45668
Location: Essex

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 12:34 pm Post subject:

Judith wrote:

I find that whole spices last for ever.

Absolutely, my mum grinds her own garam masala as she needs it so i just nick some off her, we use quite a lot of ground coriander for which I use a pepper grinder.

Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 12:38 pm Post subject:
Brilliant. Where does your mum live Tahir? Will it be on my A-Z? Tell you what, my mum does a really nice Christmas cake, various soda breads, and scones and cakes - we can trade for a while if you like

Joey

Joined: 03 Nov 2004
Posts: 191

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 12:38 pm Post subject:
https://www.spicebox.co.uk/about01.php Maybe you can find out on this site or contact them and they will help, they are very friendly. we used to get curry packs from them from their shop in Sudbury, when we lived in suffolk. they made delicious curries.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45668
Location: Essex

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 12:46 pm Post subject:

Bugs wrote:

we can trade for a while if you like

jema
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28233
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 12:55 pm Post subject:

tahir wrote:

Judith wrote:

I find that whole spices last for ever.

Absolutely, my mum grinds her own garam masala as she needs it so i just nick some off her, we use quite a lot of ground coriander for which I use a pepper grinder.

I think there are exceptions, green cardenum does not seem to last well.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45668
Location: Essex

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 12:57 pm Post subject:
Agree about green cardomom, cloves probably lose a bit of punch too, but nothing like as fast as ground spices.

chrissy

Joined: 20 Feb 2005
Posts: 238
Location: Pangbourne

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 3:51 pm Post subject:

Judith wrote:

Treacodactyl wrote:

I'd rather not go down the 2 different types of cardamom, two different types of mustard seed, 6 different types of chilli powder route as we don't eat that many or have the space for the jars!

I love the idea of ziplock bags for them. All the jars do take up a lot of space, and the bags could still be kept in the dark. Thanks Judith.

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 4:02 pm Post subject:
I use pataks pastes with some chopped onion, garlic and lemon juice as a marinade for lamb before putting it on the bbq. I know it's a shop bought paste but it really works well.

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 4:02 pm Post subject:
Just remember to label the bags Chrissy. I nearly put mustard seeds on my poppy seed rolls this weekend

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